Jephthah, a mighty man of valor and a hero of faith, is raised up as a deliverer during a period of oppression by the Ammonites. Despite being cast out by his brothers due to his illegitimate birth, Jephthah is called upon by the elders of Gilead in their time of distress. The sermon highlights the importance of genuine repentance, evidenced by both confession and restitution, as the foundation for God's deliverance, drawing parallels to Israel's repentance and Jephthah's own experience of being wronged and then called back. The core lesson emphasizes that God responds to sincere repentance and the willingness to make wrongs right, leading to victory and deliverance.
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This is a very blessed section, by the way. I don't know if this man has ever appealed to you, if you've ever thought about anything when you've read him, read about him in the book of Judges. Most people, when you ask them what they know about Jephthah, they always usually say, I know something of the awful vow that he made unto the Lord. And we won't get to the vow of Jebza tonight, but we will in due time. But he's a very interesting man. And by the way, he is listed in Hebrews chapter eleven among the heroes of faith.
Verse one. Now Jebza the Gileadite was a mighty man of valor. And he was a son of an harlot. And Gilead begat Jebza. And Gilead's wife bear him sons. And his wife's sons grew up, and they thrust out Jebsah, and said unto him, Thou shalt not inherit in our father's house, for thou art the son of a strange woman. Then Jebsah fled from his brethren, and dwelt in the land of Tob, and there were gathered vain men to Jebsah, and went out with him. And it came to pass in process of time. that the children of Ammon made war against Israel.
And it was so that when the children of Ammon made war against Israel, the elders of Gilead, or Gilead, went to fetch Jebza out of the land of Tob. And they said unto Jebza, Come and be our captain, that we may fight with the children of Ammon. And Jebza said unto the elders of Gilead, Did not ye hate me and expel me out of my father's house? And why are ye coming to me now when ye are in distress? And the elders of Gilead said unto Jebza, Therefore we turn again unto thee now, that thou mayest go with us, and fight against the children of Ammon, and be our head over the inhabitants of Gilead.
And Jebza said unto the elders of Gilead, If ye bring me home again to fight against the children of Ammon, and the Lord deliver them before me, shall I be your head? The elders of Gilead said unto Jebta, The Lord be witness between us. If we do not so according to thy words. Then Jebta went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and captain over them. And Jebta uttered all the words before the Lord in Mizpah. May the Lord bless the reading of his word. Let's pray together. Our Father, in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ, we bow before you tonight.
We long to see revival and deliverance in our lifetime, just as you wrought a great deliverance over the Ammonites during the days of Jebta. And we pray that somehow we may learn the principles that are laid before us here in this portion of your word. Grant, our Father, that we may hear thy voice, and that we may be delivered from the corruption that is in the world through lust, that we may be delivered from this present evil age with all its pull, with all its desires, and that we may stand forth full and complete in thy will.
We pray our God that what we sang tonight will be a reality in our lives, that the love of Christ may fill us like the waters cover the sea, that we may run the race before us, and that in all these things Christ Jesus will be all in all. Remember the special needs of this assembly. We pray in a definite way for those who are laid aside. We think of those who cannot come out on a night like this, and we ask your blessing upon them. For there are those who are elderly, and the snow just is too much, and we don't expect it.
But we thank you for each one who's come. And we pray that the word of God will be blessed to each heart through the study of your word and bless as a choir practices together tonight for that exalted delight of giving praise unto him who is worthy in song even our Lord Jesus Christ for we pray in his name at thanksgiving amen when you come to the book of judges The book of the judges is very similar to the day in which you and I live. Four times in the book of judges we read there was no king in Israel.
And every man did that which was right in his own eyes. And this is basically where we are in Christendom today. There is no king in Israel. Now there could be a king in Israel. But Israel rejected their king when he came. And there is no king in Israel. Oh, we have a king, but our king is in glory. And we're looking for the truth of that hymn that we sang tonight. Oh, Lord Jesus, how long have we shot the glad song? But while Israel was going through this period known as a period of the judges, this man is raised up as a deliverer.
This man, Jebta. Now, he's mentioned in Hebrews eleven thirty-two as one of the heroes of faith that had the Spirit of God to take the time he would have wrote of him as he did of Abraham and as he did of Moses. But it appears that this person's life was unfortunate because of his parents. He had nothing to do with who his mother was. He had nothing to do even with who his father was. But because he was an illegitimate child, his brethren did not want him to have any inheritance in their home.
And this eleventh chapter and that which transpires in the remaining part of the chapter reminds me very much of what Solomon wrote about in the book of Ecclesiastes chapter nine. And it appears in Ecclesiastes nine that these few verses almost summarize the book. I'm going to ask you to turn to the book of Ecclesiastes chapter nine for just a moment. And we want to look at what we call the poor wise man. Verse thirteen. Where Solomon, here writing as the preacher, cohealist, He says, This wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me.
There was a little city, and few men within it. And there came a great king against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it. Now there was found in it a poor wise man. And he, by his wisdom, delivered the city. Yet no man remembered that same poor man. It almost appears that Jebta, the mighty man of valor, is almost forgotten. He's only wanted basically because there's a need. But they see genuine leadership in him, and the elders have him returned. Now, in the book of Judges, there were numerous oppressions and deliverances by God.
The reason there were oppressions was because Israel departed from the Lord. They wondered after the gods of the nations that were still existent in the land of Canaan that they had not driven on. And they went and worshipped the gods of the nations, the Bales that we read about, the various ones. And in so doing, the Lord delivered them into the hands of various nations round about to bring about a genuine repentance.
This is the fifth oppression that you read of in the Book of Judges. Now, this oppression takes place on the eastern side of the Jordan. The land of Gilead was the land of the two and a half tribes that wanted their inheritance that we talked about in prayer meeting the last three times we were together on the subject of strange altars. You see, the altar they built as they crossed the Jordan River didn't mean anything if they're not going to follow the Lord. It was just an altar to see to. It didn't mean anything.
And often we can have these so-called Times of religious experiences. But if it doesn't lead us to following Christ and obeying the commandments of the Lord. And when I talk about the commandments, I simply have reference to what our Lord told his own in the Great Commission in Matthew twenty eight. He says, Go ye therefore and make disciples of all nations, teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. And oh, I am with you always. So there should be an observance of the commandments of Christ, and the basic commandment of Christ is that we love one another.
That is a basic gospel commandment. This is a fifth oppression, and it takes place on the eastern side of the Jordan River. Now, Jebsa became a major judge, one who affected a very important deliverance for the people of God. Now we don't know much about him. We don't know near as much about him as we do about Samson and about Gideon. But we are told more about Jebta than we are told about Ahniel, about Ehud, or even Deborah. So there's a lesson here.
And it's when this lesson that's here began to bear upon my mind I felt, the Lord is leading me to minister on this man Jebta. A lot of these characters we read about, but we really don't take time off to meditate upon that which we read. God saw many aspects in Jeb's story, rich in spiritual significance. And if I had to talk tonight, if I had to give it a title, I'd title this The Importance of Repentance. How important, really, is repentance? Well, the story begins. by the oppression of the Ammonites.
The children of Ammon were located east of the Jordan River, just as the two and a half tribes of Ruben, Gad, and the half tribe of Manasseh were. Now Ammon's dominion over the people of God was eighteen years. That's a long period, isn't it? For eighteen years, the children of Ammon oppressed The people of God. You say, I didn't read that. Well, if you look back at chapter ten. And verse eight, you'll see what I mean. And I want you to notice that in that year they vexed and oppressed the children of Israel eighteen years.
All the children of Israel that were on the other side, Jordan, in the land of the Amorites, which is Gilead. Eighteen years this oppression lasts. Now Ammon had gained the ascendancy over Moab and over Midian, two perennial rivals for that portion of the land. The land of Moab was over there and the land of Ammon. It's an amazing thing that Midian and Ammon and Moab were related to the children of Israel. Ammon and Moab. were the descendants of Lot by his daughters.
And Midian was the descendant of Abraham through Ketura, Genesis chapter twenty-five. So you'll find there were Israel's blood relatives that they were fighting. We often forget about that. Lot failed to take the gospel to Sodom. But he brought Sodom out to inflict and afflict the people of God unto all generations. And friends, this is why it is so important to get the gospel to our generation.
It is important because if we don't take the gospel to our generation, we'll bring the sinfulness of our generation out to afflict our grandchildren. And this is important. And you and I are living, as it were, in Sodom and Gomorrah. That's the condition of the land today. And we are either going to take the gospel to our Sodom, or we're going to bring Sodom out to afflict our grandchildren and our great-grandchildren. It happened in the days of Lot. And unless the Lord comes, beloved, it will happen again.
And we need to keep this before us. Now, from chapter ten and verse eight, we learn that the two and a half tribes were vexed in this oppression. It lasted eighteen years. But there was oppression west of the Jordan as well. For you notice the next verse, the ninth verse of chapter ten. It says, Moreover, the children of Ammon passed over Jordan to fight also against Judah. and against Benjamin, and against the house of Ephraim, so that Israel restored his trust. They weren't content in just oppressing the two and a half tribes on the eastern side of Jordan.
They crossed the Jordan, and that meant a great feat, for the Jordan gorge is not an easy feat to cross. And they afflicted some of the other tribes of Israel as well. But that leads us to the reason that God raised up Jebza. God raised up Jebza because Israel repented. And unless we see what repentance is and how repentance totally changes the attitude, and if the attitude isn't changed, then followed by making that which was wrong right, We will never know deliverance by God.
There is a need for repentance. There was a need for repentance among the children of Gilead. They had wronged Jephthah. There was a need for repentance. And in many places today, in Christendom, there have been wrongs that have never been made right. And we wonder why we don't see God's blessing. Now, the degree of repentance at this time is very noteworthy. Now, that was repentance before in Israel. But this is stated now to show the extent of repentance and the sincerity of repentance.
Notice verse ten. He received repentance. And the children of Israel cried unto the Lord, saying, We have sinned against thee, both because we have forsaken our God, and also served Balaam. And the Lord said unto the children of Israel. So we find that this record here concerning their repentance is in their repentance is in two stages. First of all, they cried to God. and admit their sin. And God answers it probably by a prophet in verses eleven through fourteen.
Notice what he says. Did not I deliver you from the Egyptians and from the Amorites and from the children of Ammon and from the Philistines? The Zidonians also and the Amalekites and the Maenites did oppress you and you cried unto me and I delivered them out of your hand? Yet. ye have forsaken me and served other gods wherefore I will deliver you no more go and cry unto the gods which ye have chosen let them deliver you in the time of your tribulation they cried to God and they got an answer that was a first step in repentance but I want you to notice the second step verse fifteen and verse sixteen And the children of Israel said unto the Lord, We have sinned.
Do thou unto us whatever seemeth good unto thee. Deliver us only, we pray thee. They're telling God now, Yes, we know we've sinned. And our sin deserves punishment. Deal with us. Are we willing to say that to God? God, deal with us. Deal with our sins. Don't spare us, but let us know a genuine deliverance at your hand. This is what they're really saying. And notice it was not only words, it was action.
Verse sixteen, and they put away the strange gods from among them and served the Lord. And his soul was grieved for the misery of Israel. In other words, God saw the repentance And God moved in response to their repentance. A great degree of repentance was shown. And God gave a marked victory. God is always pleased with repentance, beloved. And he's always ready to bestow his gracious blessings. Now let us take a look at Jephthah. Here's the man that God uses. Usually, a time of deliverance is wrought by a man.
God uses men. God's great method is men. God anoints men. He does not anoint machinery. He anoints men. God uses men. You see. Now this man, the Gentile, he was a son of a Gileadite. End of a harlot. Because he was an illegitimate son in the family, he wasn't wanted. His half-brothers treated him unjustly because of the nature of his birth. He couldn't help the way he was born.
Neither could you or me. We were born into the family that we were born into. We had no choice in the matter. We had no choice over the color of our hair. That is, at least when we were born, there was no choice in the color of our eyes whether we'd be short or tall. That was all decided for us. Now, the half-brothers of Jebsah drove him from his home. Now, he went north to the land of Tob, where he showed leadership, by drawing a band of men around him.
Whom he molded into a good fighting unit. And while it says in the King James concerning him that in verse three, vain men, Jebser was quite a man of spiritual character. And I wouldn't say that these were vain worthless fellows. But in all probability they were unemployed men. And Jebza molded them into an army and to a good fighting unit. Jebza was a man of high principles. And we'll notice that next Sunday night in the way in which he writes letters to the elders of Ammon before the battle.
He gave them an opportunity for peace. He was not a war maker. He was not a troublemaker. Jebza was a peacemaker. And the Bible says, Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. Now, Jebsah was a man of high principles. He was not given to ruthless pillage. Oh, no. He and his men operated more in the manner that David and his men did when David was fleeing from King Saul. You remember how David protected the people of Keelah? He delivered the city of Keelah. But the city of Kila then would have delivered David over to the hand of Saul to have him put to death.
Like the poor wise man that we read about in the ninth chapter of Ecclesiastes. Now, Jebsah, in all probability, protected cities and settlements from the marauders, particularly in this day of the Ammonite invasion. In other words, where Jebsah was, the oppression didn't take place. These people knew security because of Jebta and the men that were with him. Now, I want you to notice his return. Now, he had been driven from his hometown. But now because of his leadership and because of the Yemenite oppression and because of a lack of leadership among the two and a half tribes, and especially they of his own hometown, they send for this fellow Jebsah.
And notice who it was that made requests. It was the elders of Gilead. And you have that in verse five. You'll notice the elders of Gilead went to fetch Jebsah out of the land of Tob. This was over an eighty mile round trip that they had to make. And to make a trip of eighty miles in those days. It was quite a journey. They had to do that. Now, it appears from verse seven that the brothers of Jebza were part of the elders of the town who made the trip. Verse seven, and Jebza said unto the elders, did not ye hate me?
And this is quite evident that his own brothers came. It reminds me of Joseph in Egypt. When the brothers of Joseph had to come to Baikor. In other words, if there's genuine repentance, friends, there's going to have to be an acknowledgement of sin, and there's going to have to be a putting of things right. This is necessary. And Jephthah said, did you not hate me? Did you not expel me out of my father's house? And why are you coming to me now? When you're in distress, why do you come to me?
He put it to them, and he put it to them straight. And I tell you, the elders here, they feared that he would refuse. There's no question about that. Because in all probability, the elders of the town agreed with the brothers of Jebta in expelling him. It appears that way from the text. Now, just because a lot of people agree to something doesn't mean it's right. And this text proves that. Just because a certain group get together and they agree to something, it doesn't mean that it's right.
Now, notice that the force of the elders' response was that they were not trying to write the wrong that was done to him. They were going to make him their head of the inhabitants of Gilead. And you have that in verse eight. They're going to make him their head. Now, with this repentance and wrong being made right, not God can come in and he can come in with a genuine deliverance. Because this is evidence now of true repentance.
Being willing to make a wrong right. It is not enough to say, I've confessed this to the Lord. And the Lord forgave me. Well, how do I know the Lord forgave me? How do I know the confession is real? Let's be honest. Suppose I steal a hundred dollars from you. And I say, well now, brother, you know, it was wrong what I did. And I've confessed it to the Lord. And he's forgiven me. Well, how are you going to know that he's forgiven me? Only if I'm willing to pay back the hundred dollars.
There's such a thing as restitution, friends. I remember witnessing to a carpenter years ago when I worked as an electrician. And he wept as I was talking with him about salvation. And he was a real believer. He said before God saved me, and he said, when we came through the Depression, and some of you are old enough to remember the Depression, he said, when we came through the Depression, we were poor. And he said, and I stole some chickens. I stole some chickens. And he said, and I wanted to be saved, but I had to go and make restitution for those chickens I had stolen from a neighbor before I could ever get peace with God and no genuine salvation.
Beloved, that's what repentance is all about. That's what it's all about. You know, it's not simply a matter of saying to somebody, will you forgive me? Certainly we're ready to forgive. But we understand that this forgiveness is real when the person who has wronged us is ready to go to any length necessary to make things right. And here we find that what they said to Jebta on this occasion, they rehearsed before the Lord at Mizpah. And if we miss this in the text, we're missing the groundwork for the deliverance.
And the groundwork for the deliverance of the children of Israel to this deliverer, our Jebza, is taking place right here. And we have in verse eleven the words, Then Jebza went with the elders of Gilead, and the people made him head and captain over them, and Jebza uttered all his words. Before the Lord in Mizpah. In other words, this was a solemn ceremony before the Lord. They meant business. Now the groundwork is laid in righteousness for God to bring deliverance to His people.
And God desires that we move and work in righteousness. This is genuine repentance. Now we're going to see what kind of a man Jebta was. We find in the following passage in this eleventh chapter that we'll look at in the will of the Lord on another occasion how Jebta wrote letters and he explained the position that Israel had before the Lord. And God wrought a great victory. God used this man.
You know, our response should be tonight in our own hearts. Is there anything in my life that I need to make right with anybody? Do I need to make anything right? If we want the blessing of the Lord, it's the only way that we can have it. You can't have it any other way. The victory depends on the repentance before God. Do I recognize that God is righteous and God is holy and God demands repentance from his people?
Is there anything I need to repent of? I need to make right. And may God enable us not to take these things lightly, but may he use this portion of the word of God to bring honor and glory to himself. Now let's pray together. Our Father, we do thank you tonight for the infinite riches of divine grace. We thank you that You were pleased to send a deliverer. You were pleased, O God, to accept the repentance of these people because it was real.
It manifested itself in good works. We thank you in Jesus' name. Work in each of our lives in this assembly in order that we may see thy good hand of blessing. and thy power in salvation in the gospel for Jesus' sake. Amen.